Automatic weighing apparatus.



W. E. NIGKERSON.

AUTOMATIC WEIG-HING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1901-. 935,557, Patented oct. 12,1909. 6. SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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W. E.. NIGKERSON. AUTOMATIC WBIGHING ABPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1901i 936,557,a PatenteoLOct. 12, 1909.

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W. E. NICKERSON,

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILED NOV. 25. 1901.

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W. E. NICKBRSON.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1901.

Patented Oct. 12,1909.

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AUTOMATIC WBIGHING- APPARATUS.

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WILLIAM EMERY NCiEtSG-N, 0F CAMBBIBGE, IJASSACH JSETT, ASS'JGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UTOMATC VIEGHING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPGRATION 0F NEW YORK.

AUTGMATC 'vi/'EIGHING APPARATUS.

To all whom fit may concern.'

Be it lrnown that l, viiimeir E. NiemansoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of irlassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in nu tomatic Tileighing Apparatus, of which the following' is a specification.

ln Letters Patent of the United States No. 797,144; and No. 797,145, granted August 15th, 1905, are described and claimed machines for obtaining desired quantities of material, which machines operate by separating a stream of material into successive series of proportional increments and distributing these increments in order among a number of receptacles until a definite gross quantity of material has thus been operated upon, reference being hereby made to said Letters Patent for a full explanation of said machines and the principles on which they are based. ln using these machines, when constructed as shown in the drawings of said Letters Patent, the definite gross quantity of material obtained by a separate weighing or measuring operation performed prior to the distribution of said quantity,

- and present invention, which relates to apparatus of the same general type, is intended to improve upon said prior machines by providing means whereby said gross quantity may be determined by the operation of the apparatus itself, thereby dispensing with a separate weighing or measuring operation and making the action of the apparatus wholly automatic. To this end l provide means for supplying an indefinite stream of material to a series of separators, whereby it is distributed, and l employ a scale upon the platform of which a series of receptacles, equal in number to the individual quantities desired, may be placed collectively, said scale being so constructed and arranged that when the total cpiantity operated upon by the separators and delivered to these receptacles becomes equal to the sum of said individual quantities, the scale will operate and automatically cut olf the delivery of material to said separators and receptacles, thus leaving in each of the latter the desired amount of material. 'lfhe stream of material which is divided by the separators and distributed into the respective receptacles may be delivered to the separators in any suitable form Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 25, 1901.

Patented (ict. f2, 1969.

semi No. 83,568.

and manner, but I prefer to give it the form of a circular or annular sheet, for the reasons set forth in Letters Tfatent No. Td, above referred to. I have accordingly shown my present improvements as embodied in a machine in which such a stream of material is delivered to the separators, and certain features of my present invention relate to the construction of the stream-feeding devices, as will be hereinafter set forth.

A preferred form of apparatus embodying my improvements is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure is a side view, partly in elevation and partly in central vertical section, of the comolete apparatus. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, looking from the right hand side of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line m-fc in Fig. l, showing also in dotted lines a gear which is above the h ne of section. Fig. a is a detail side elevation showing a tripping mechanism hereinafter described. Fig. 5 shows in central, vertical section a sliding rod and. an adjustable block secured thereto, formino' a part of said tripping mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the same parts. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the lower portion of the scale platform and the parts beneath it. Fig. 8 is a vertical section through an adjustable frame located above the receptacles, the section being taken on a plane parallel with that of the framework of the apparat-us, and Fig. 9 is a similar section through the weighing 'mechanisnn taken on the same plane. Fig. l0 is a sectional detail of a knife-edge support forming part of the weighing mechanism. Fig. ll is a vertical section through the frame above referred to and through vthe weighing mechanism, taken at right angles to the plane of Figs. 8 and 9.

The general arrangement of the supply bin and separators in my present apparatus mayconveniently be similar to that shown and described in the aforesaid Letters Fatent No. 797,15 and is so illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- 2 represents the frame-work of the apparatus, within the upper portion of which is located a bin 3 formed by an external cylindrical shell #i and an internal cone 5, said cone and shell being respectively secured to concentric, vertical shafts 6 and 7 which are journaled in the top of the frame-work 2 and are supported and driven as hereinafter described. When the apparatus is in operation the shell @t is raised sufficiently to provide a narrow annular opening between its lower edge and the lower portion of the cone 5, thus providing for the delivery of a thin, circular sheet stream of material, which falls therefrom into a circular series of separators. In the present case this series of separators is bolted rigidly to the frame-work 2, as at 8, instead of being mounted to rotate as shown in my aforesaid application. rllhese separators are preferably formed, as shown and described in said application, by drilling a series of conical holes in the rim of a wheel-like member t), the walls of adjacent holes being made to intersect and thereby forming vertically-curved separating edges 10. .Each hole forms a pocket 11 from the bottom of which an inclined tube l2 leads downward to an adjustable frame by means of which its lower end is held in proper position over a receptacle. This frame is bolted to the frame-work 2 as at 13 and consists of four side bars lelforming a hollow square or rectangle, on which bars are supported a number of blocks 15. Each of these blocks is connected wit-h a similar block on the op posite side of the frame by an oblong wire loop lo, the ends of which pass around said blocks and are secured thereto, and the sides of which are parallel and arej ust far enough apart to receive between them the lower end of a tube 12. r1`he loops 1G which extend between two opposite sides of the frame are located above those which extend between the other two sides, thus forming at their intersections a number of square openings which should be equal in number to the tubes l2 and to the receptacles which are to be filled at one operation of the apparatus. Into each of these openings thus formed is introduced the lower end of one of the tubes 12, the lateral adjustment of said lower ends to correspond with receptacles of different sizes being provided for by forming a longitudinal slot l? in each of the four sides of the frame and passing a headed bolt 1S through each block 15 and through said slot, so that said blocks may be slid along the sides of the frame into any desired position, in which they may be clamped by means of thumb screws 19 on said bolts.

The construction of the parts above described is or may be substantially the same as that shown in said Letters Patent No. 7 97,1115, in which they are broadly claimed, and to which reference may be made for a more detailed description thereof. Bly present invention does not relate to these parts, except in so far as they are modified or combined with other parts or features, as hereinafter set forth, and in some of these combinations they are to be regarded as representative or typical of any stream-supplying and separating means operating according to the same broad principles.

ln my prior sheet stream apparatus, above referred to, provision is made for revolving both the series of separators and the stream of material, but for reasons which will hereinafter appear it is desirable in my present apparatus that the separators be not rotated. andv therefore, in order to obtain a sufficient velocity of .rotation of the stream of material with .respect to the separators, l rotate both the cone 5 and shell Je in the same direction instead of in opposite directions. 'lo this end the shafts and 't' are respectively provided with gears 2() and 2l which mesh with supplementary 22 and Q3 secured to a vertical shaft 24 which is journaled on the frame-work of t-he machine and driven in any suitable manner. as by means of bevel gears and QG. of which the latter is secured to a shaft 2T provided with a belt wheel 2S. Since the gears Q0, 21, 22 and 227 are mounted on parallel axes, the shell il. (or the cone with its shaft and gear may be made verti l.ally mo vable without making it necessary to spline said gear to its shaft in order to prevent the disengagement of its teeth from its driving gear. Each of the shafts (S and 7 is preferably supported upon a ball bearing, which may consist of superimposed collarsI 2t) and i3() having their adjacent faces grooved to receive the balls 31, the lower collar 29 being secured to the frame-work of the machine and the upper collar 3() being secured to the shaft.

ln order to feed a continuous strealn of material to the bin formed by the conc 5 and the shell et., l provide an annular trough 32 secured to one of the members which form said bin, in the present case to the shell 4. From the trough 32 one or more pipes f3. open at both ends, lead to the bin, and a pipe Se, to which material is supplied continuously in any desired manner, is secured to the frame-work 2 and has its lower end located within the trough 32. As thus constructed, when the shell is stationary the material falls through the pipe 234e until its lower end is choked up by the accumulation of material in said trough and the flow through said pipe is thereby stopped, but when and as long as said shell is rotated, its lower end pushes the accumulated material before it and thus feeds it through the pipes into the bin A number of pipes 3b are preferably provided, in order both to deliver material to all parts of the bin and thus keep the depth of its contents uniform, and also to prevent such an accumulation of material in front of the pipe Irlas to cause it to overflow the side walls of the trough when the shell is rotated.

l prefer to make the glars 2O and 22 of slightly different diameter from the gears 21 and 23 respectively, so as to rotate the cone 5 i iv and the shell 4l at different speeds, in order that the delivery of material the separators may be facilitated by the relative movement of the walls of the bin 3, and l also prefer that these speeds of rotation shall be as nearly incommensurate as possible, in or der to reduce the liability to systematic errors, as explained in Letters Patent No. 797,144, above referred to.

The vertically movable member of the supply bin, in this case the shell l, is provided with means whereby it inav be raised and lowered to permit and cut oft the flow of mate ial to the separators, which means may consist of two pairs of links 35 and pivotcd respectively to the bearing in which the shaft 7 is journaled and to the collar which supports said shaft through its ball bearing above descrilied, said links being also pivoted to each other, thus forming a species of toggle. rlhese two pairs of links are located on opposite sides of the shaft- 7, and one of the linlrs of each pair, as the link 36, is connected by a rod 87, the length of which should be adjustable, to an arm 38 secured to a roch-shaft 89 journaled on. the frame-work of the machine. Said rock-sha ft is operated by means such as an arm 40 secured thereto and pivotally connected at its outer end to a sliding rod el, which is guided to move vertically and has an operating handle l2 secured to it. As thus constructed, when the rod il is moved downward by the handle 42 the links and 3G will be dra-wn toward the left, as represented in Fig. l, thus lengthening the toggles which thev form and forcing the shaft 'Z' and shell l upward, and when said rod el is released the weight of the shell -t and its shaft will cause them to drop, thereby forcing the links 35 and 36 to the right and raising the rod el.

In order to hold the shell 1l at the proper height to provide a suitable delivery aperture at its lower ed ge, the rod l1 is provided with a catch arranged to be engaged and dctachably held by a spring-operated latch te pivoted to the frame-work 2. is shown, this catch consists of a block bolted to the lower end of the rod stl and having several holes L5 tapped in it for the reception of the bolt 41.3, in order to provide for holding the shell et in different positions corresponding to different widths of the deliveryv aperture at the bottom of the bin rl`he block .43 is prevented from turning on its bolt so by providing it with a rib l? held in a groove i8 formed longitudinally in the lower end of the rod 4l. rlhe shell fl: may thus be held in its raised position until the latch de is tripped, and when thus released it will immediately fall by its own weight and close the delivery aperture above the separators.

ltis desirable to stop the rotation of tl shell 4L and cone 5 simultaneously with the closing of the aperture at their bottom edges,

not only to prevent the grinding of these parts ukl st each other at said edges when they are rotated at different speeds, but also to stop the delivery of material through the pipe and to this end l prefer to mount the belt wheel 28 loosely on the shaft 27 and to connect it thereto by a friction clutch t9 splined on said shaft, said clutch being operated by means such as a pivoted lever 50 connected by a link 5l to one end of a rocksh aft 5&2, the other end of which is connected by a linlr 58 to the sliding rod 4l. llhose parts are so arranged that when said rod el is moved downward the clutch 49 will be thrown into engagement with the belt wheel 28 simultaneously with the raising of the shell e, and when the latch t4 is tripped the weight of the shell 4t will cause the latter to drop and close the delivery aperture at its bottom, and also, through its connection with the rod Lll, to throw the clutch 49 out of engagement with the beltwheel, whereupon both the cone and the shell will immediately come to rest.

The receptacles which are to be filled sin'iultaneously are preferably introduced in a tray 55. This tray is supported on the platform of a scale, which in an apparatus of this size is preferably compound and may consist 0f two beams 56 each forked at one end to rovide two arms 57, each of which is i 'knife edges on which the scale beam 6l is suspended. @ne end of the latter beam has lrnife edges b5 secured to it, which bear against a fixed abutment 66, and its other end carries the weighing weight G7, suspended from knife edges 68. rlhe platform of the scale is preferably made double, the lower portion 69 heilig supported 0n the knife edges and the upper portion 70 being supported on the lower portion by means of balls 7l., one at each corner, which balls rest in concave recesses T?) formed in the upper and lower portions of the platform. This construction is old in the art and is employed for the purpose of permitting a slight lateral movement of the load without danger of its aifectiiig the siale beams. rFliese movements of the upper portion of the platform may be limited by suitable stops secured to the frame-work 2, as shown in F l.

The giooved supports T4; which receive the knife edges 5S are preferably constructed as l located that when the latch 44 is in engageshown in detail in Fig. l0, being mounted to turn freely in a vertical socket and adjustahly supported on a bolt or screw 76, whereby they are rendered self-alining and a firm and level bearing for the four corners of the scale platform is secured. This construction of these supports 76 is not original with me, however.

The weighing weight (37 is so adjusted that when the total amount of material delivered to the receptacles 54 is equal to the sum of the quantities which the respective receptacles are intended to receive, the scale beams will tilt, and this action of the scale is made to effect the closing of the delivery aperture at the bottom of the bin 3 by tripping the pivoted latch 44 and thus permitting the shell 4 to drop as previously described. F or tripping said latch 44 I prefer to employ a horizontal shaft 77 journaled near the base of the machine and provided with a belt wheel 7 8 mounted loosely thereon and continuously driven in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. ll, said wheel 7S being normally connected with the shaft by a friction clutch 7 9, the tension of which is such that the shaft 77 will rotate continuously with the belt wheel 78 except when such rotation of the shaft is positively arrested, at which times the engaging members of the clutch will slip. One end of the shaft 77 is provided with a crank arm 80 the crank-pin Sl of which passes through a slot S2 formed in the lower end of a link S3, which link is operatively connected with the pivoted latch 44, in the present machine through a rock-shaft 84 and a supplementary link 85. On the shaft 7 7 is rigidly secured a stop cam SG, the stop face S7 of which is adapted to be engaged by a roller 8S carried by an arm S9. One end of this arm 89 is pivoted to the frame-work 2, as at 90, and its other end 91 is bent upward and over the free end of the scale beam 61 in such manner that when said beam tilts, upon the completion of the total load on the scale platform, its free end will engage the end 9i of the arm 8O and thereby lift the roller 88 and release the stop cam 8G, whereupon the shaft 77 will instantly be rotated, and will continue to rotate until the Weighted end of the scale beam Gl is permitted to drop back upon a support 92 by the removal of the filled receptacles from the scale platform. Then said scale beam thus falls to its normal position the roller 88 will also drop onto the cani S6 and will follow the contour thereof until it is engaged by the stop-face S7 and the rotation of the shaft 77 is thereby arrested. Said cam S6 is so adjusted on the shaft 77 that when its face S7 engages the roller 88 the crank pin 81 will be in its uppermost position, as shown in F ig. 4, and the slot S2 in the link 83 is so ment with the block 415 the bottom of said slot will, be just beneath thepin Sl when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 4, so that when the scale operates as above described and releases the shaft 77, the latch 44 will immediately be tripped by the rotation oit said shaft and the engagen'lent of its crank pin 8l with the link 83. The purpose of the slot S2 is to permit the engaging movement of the latch 44, regardless of the position of the crank pin 8l. After the latch 44 has been tripped it will be immaterial whether the shaft 77 continues to rotate or not, since no further delivery of material to the separators can occur until the rod 4l has been drawn downward and its block 43 has been engaged by said latch.

lin operating the apparatus, as soon as a tray full of receptacles has been filled the delivery of material to the separators is immediately stopped automatically as above described, the filled receptacles are removed and another tray full of empty ones is substituted therefor, and the shell 4 is then raised by hand and locked in its raised position by the engagement of the block 43 with the latch 44, whereupon another operation of the apparatus is performed, the only attendance which it requires being that involved in the remo 'al of the filled receptacles and the introduction of a supply of empty ones, and in the starting of the apparatus by raising the shell 4. It will be noted that it is not necessary for the scale to be especially sensitive, since any error cause-d by lack of sensitiveness in any one operation of the apparatus will be divided among all. the individual quantities produced by that operation, in proportion to their respective sizes.

It is to be understood that my broad invention is not limited to the delivery of any particular kind of stream to the separators, nor to the arrangement shown for deliveringl it in a sheet stream, in case such a stream employed. Nor is my invention limited to any particular construction of separators nor to any specific form of scale or weighing apparatus, the construction herein shown being merely the preferred form of my apparatus. So too the connections between the scale and the streaiii-controlling devices may be varied at will, since, so far as l am aware, l am the first to weigh a plurality of packages at once upon a single scale, as 'well as the first to combine means for separating` a. quantity of material into proportionate parts, accordingl to the principles set forth in the Letters Patent previously referred to. with means, such as a weighingl mechanism, whereby the gross quantity of material thus separated is automatically determined and the flow of material stopped, the weighing mechanism thus being relied upon to obtain a denite gross quantity et material and the act-ion ot the separators being relied upon to distribute said delinite quantity into the proportional parts desired. Some of the subordinate features of my invention, however` relate to the construction of the mechanism above referred to, specified in the subjoiin l claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. ln an apparatus oi" the character described, the combination of a weighing mechanism adapted to receive a number of independent, removable receptacles simultaneously, means for delivering material to said receptacles concurrently, means :t'or maintaining the rates of delivery of said delivering means at a constant proportion with respect to one another, and means operative with the weighing mechanism for cutting ol'll the delivery of material to said receptacles.

2. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combinationi of a series of separators, means for delivering a stream of material thereto, means for producing a relative movement between said stream and the separators, lengthwise of the series and means for automatically cutting olaf the delivery otnmaterial to said separators when the required gross quantity of material has been separated thereby.

3. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a series of separators, means for delivering a stream of material thereto, means for producing a relative lateral movement between said stream and the series of separators, a scale adapted to receive a number of receptacles simultaneously, means for conducting material from the separators to said receptacles, and means caused to operate by the tilting of the scale for cutting oil the delivery of material to the separators.

el. ln an apparatus olf the character described, the combination of a stationary scries oit separators, means for delivering a stream oit material. thereto, means ttor moving said stream across said separators, a scale adapted to receive a number of receptacles simultaneously, means for conducting material from the separators to said receptacles, and means caused to operate by the tilting ci the scale for cutting oil`l said stream.

ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a stationary series of separators, oitl a bin the walls of which are laterally movable with respect to said separators, a trouOh movable with said bin and communicating` therewith, and means for delivering material to said trough continuously during its movement.

6. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a bin journaled on a vertical axis, means for rotating the same on said axis, an annular trough concentric with said axis and carried by said bin, passages leading from the trough to the bin, and a supply pipe having its open lower end located in said trough.

7. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination ot an annular bin the inner and outer walls ot which are independently rotatable about a central axis, means for rotating said walls, an annular trough concentric with said axis and carried by one of the walls of the bin, passages leading from the trough to the bin, and means for delivering material to said trough.

8. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a bin and means for rotating the walls of the same, means for delivering material to the 1in during such rotation, a stationary series of separators, a scale arranged to receive a number of receptacles simultaneously, means for conducting material from the separators to the respective receptacles, and means operative with the tilting of the scale for cutting on' the delivery of material from said bin.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination oli' a series of separators, a cone and a shell independently j ournaled on concentric, vertical axes, means for rotating said cone and shell at dilerent speeds, means for raising said shell and thereby providing a delivery aperture at its lower edge, a scale adapted to receive a number of receptacles simultaneously, means for conducting the material from the separators to said receptacles respectively, and means operativ-e with the tilting of the scale tor sin'iultaneously cutting oil said stream of material and stopping the lateral movement thereof.

l0. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a bin the walls of which are independently and concentrically journaled on vertical axes, one of said walls being vertically movable and adapted to fall by its own weight, means :for rotating said walls with respect to each other, and means for Stopping such rotation which are actuated by the Vweight of said vertically movable wall when it falls.

11. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a bin the walls of which are independently and concentrically j ournaled upon vertical axes, a shaft, means driven by said shaft for producing a relative rotation between said walls, and means tor raising and lowering one oit said walls and simultaneously connecting and disconnecting said shaft and a source of power.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a rotatable bin having one ot its walls vertically movable toprovide a delivery aperture at its lower edge and adapted to fall by its own weight, means 'for rotating said bin, means for rais ing its vertically movable wall and a latch and lowering said shell, .a clutch .on the `drivfor holding it in its raised position, a stal tionary series of separators, a scale adapted to receive a number of receptacles simulta* neously, means for conducting material from the separators to the respective receptacles, and means caused to operate by the tilting of the scale for tripping said latch.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a series oir separators, a scale, and means lor conducting material from the separators .to said scale, ot' a bin the walls oi which are independently and concentrically journaled upon vertical axes, a` shaft and means operated thereby for rotating said Walls, means for raising one of said Walls and thereby providing a delivery aperture at its lower edge, a clutch arranged to connect the shaft with a source of power, connections between said vertically movable Wall and said clutch, adapted to be operated by the weight of the tornier, a latch for holding said ivall in its raised position, and means caused to operate by the tilting ot' the scale for tripping said latch.

lll. n an apparatus of the character .described, the combination of a shell and a cone secured respectively to concentric, vertical snai'ts, a driving shaft having a belt Wheel loosely mounted thereon, driving' connections betiveen said shafts, means for raising ing shaft adapted to loclt the driving Wheel thereto, and positive connections between said clutch and the mechanism for raising and lowering the shell.

l5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a cone and a shell forming .a bin between them and independently and concentrically journaled on vertical axes, means for rotating said cone and shell, comprising gears 2O and 2l located above said bin and meshing With gears 22 and Q3 mounted on a shaft parallel with said axes, means for driving said shaft, and means for raising and lowering said shell.

16, In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a scale, means for delivering material thereto, a latch controlling said delivery, and means operative with the tilting of the scale-beam for tripg ping said latch, comprising a shaft, a continuously rotated driving Wheel .loosely journaled thereon and normally connected thereto by a ifrietion clutch, latch-tripping connections betive-en said shaft and latch, a stop i'ior arresting the shaft, and means arraiiged to be actuated by the tilting of the scale beam 't'or releasing said shaft.

1T. ln an automatic Weighing apparatus, the coinliiination of a series of receptacles, each adapted to receive and retain during the weighing operation the material des livered thereto, a Weighing device arranged to weigh at one operation the total quantity of material in the series ot' receptacles, and means for delivering material to said receptacles, comprising a cnt-oit' controlled b v the. weighing device.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto subscribed my name this twenty-third day ot November, 190i.

WlhLlAM lfllllllllY NICKERSON. `\Y\"itnesses E. l). 'Grunn/'reid Josnrir T. BRENNAN. 

